This Is Home
by June.Louise
Summary: Seth and Summer reunite for the holidays. Set a few months after 416.


**I know I should probably update on my other stories, but here's another one-shot from me. Random ideas pop into my head and it's easier to write. Please read and review! **

This is Home

Seth kept pacing the living room, his gaze every now and then falling on the grandfather clock. His mother and sister would be back from the store any minute now and leave the car for him to pick up Summer. He had been counting the days for this day, when he finally would reunite with his girlfriend.

Seth had flown from Providence two days ago to spend the holidays in Berkeley with his family and in about an hour Summer would be waiting for him on the bus station. Finally they would both be able to have time together again, after being apart for several months. So, Seth was excited. More than excited. And the time seemed to never have moved this slowly.

Hearing a car door slam Seth hurried toward the front door. He knew that he would only have to wait at the bus station if he drove there now since Summer's bus was scheduled to arrive in an hour. But he figured that waiting there was better, because maybe the bus would be early. You never knew.

But as Seth opened the front door and was about to walk down the porch steps, he was surprised to find that there was a yellow cab outside and not a black range rover. And it was not his blonde mother and sister exiting the car but a very familiar brunette.

"Summer!"

Summer abruptly pulled her bag out of the cab and put it down on the sidewalk next to her suitcase, turning around with the brightest of smiles as she closed the door behind her. "Cohen," she whispered as the driver drove away, leaving her to stand there with her bags.

Seth thought that he never had seen anything so beautiful. Summer was wearing a patterned dress and had her hair in a ponytail, a few stays of hair falling out from it though and framing her quite tanned face. The sun shone down on her, causing her hair to shine. It took a moment for him to get out of his daze and leap down the steps to her, enveloping her in a big hug. He lifted her a few inches from the ground and let a small laugh out as she struggled to wrap her legs around his waist. She clung to him, also releasing a few giggles into his neck.

"What are you doing here? I was going to pick you up at the station," Seth breathed out into her hair, taking the opportunity to inhale her scent.

"I wanted to surprise you," Summer answered with a smile before she pressed her lips against his, her arms staying tightly wrapped around his neck. And he wasted no time in kissing her back, because she was there. She was in his arms and he could not care less that he was not the strongest person and that he was struggling to keep a hold of her. For having Summer back in his arms, her fingers lightly finding their way into his hair and her lips softly massaging against his, her tongue urging to enter his mouth, was worth a little arm pain. It was worth a whole lot more. For nothing had felt this good in a long time.

After a while – neither seemed to know exactly how long – Summer removed her legs from around Seth's waist and stood on the ground instead. She grinned up at him and affectionately stroked his arms up and down as if she knew how they were hurting. Not that Seth seemed to care. He grinned back down at her and placed a kiss on her forehead before bringing her close again, one of his arms circling around her still very small frame. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Not able to find the words to describe how much she had missed him, Summer again threw her arms around him and pressed herself close to him. "I think I do," she said as they pulled apart to again lock eyes. Summer was surprised to find Seth wipe a single tear that somehow had ran down her cheek. She was all smiles though and let him lead her by the hand to the porch steps where he sat down and brought her down with him. "You're very quiet," Summer grinned as she sat down in his lap, bringing his arms to go around her waist. She playfully eyed him and placed her hands on each of his shoulders.

"I can't believe you're finally here," Seth softly said while fumbling with the fabric of her dress.

"You'd better believe it," Summer said before closing the gap between them and capturing his lips yet again. "I've missed kissing you," she said as they pulled apart to breathe. She did not let him reply though but again pressed her lips against his.

"I always was a great kisser," Seth said with a smirk as they pulled apart several minutes later.

"Cohen!" Summer smacked his arm but failed to hide the grin spreading on her face.

As he was about to reply, the familiar black Range Rover pulled up on the driveway and Kirsten jumped out of the car. "Summer!" The blonde woman smiled and closed the door behind her. "You're here already! Seth?" She turned to look at her son, seeking an explanation from him with her eyes.

"You're not late, mom. She came early to surprise us." Seth smiled and quickly pecked his girlfriend's cheek causing her to playfully nudge him in the side.

"Hi, Kirsten!" Summer happily stood up as the blonde now had made her way over to the twosome and wrapped Summer in a tight hug.

"Oh, it's so good to see you," Kirsten said as they parted. "How are you? Did you get here okay?"

Summer beamed and nodded. "I'm good. So happy to be here. I've missed everyone."

"Oh, we've missed you, too, sweetie." Kirsten again pulled the brunette into a tight hug.

"Hey, mom. Where's Sophie," Seth asked as he also stood up from his seat on the porch steps.

"She's asleep in the car," Kirsten replied and took a quick glance at the car. Summer immediately searched for the baby and made a little jump. "Let me get her," Kirsten said and let go of Summer's arm to walk to the car.

"Oh," Summer started and brought her hands up to her face. "I've missed her so much. I bet she's gotten so big now I won't recognize her."

"She's grown. But don't worry, she's still very small. And she's been very excited to see you." Seth wrapped an arm around Summer's shoulders and pulled her to him.

Summer laughed. "Really? She's been asking about me?" She leaned her face to give Seth a mischievous smile but then quickly turned her attention to Kirsten who had now lifted the small girl out of the car. "Oh," Summer cooed and stepped out of Seth's embrace to take a closer look at the newest addition in the Cohen family.

"She's tired now, but just wait until she wakes up and shows her smile." Kirsten proudly and lovingly held the car-seat up so that Summer could meet Sophie.

"She's even more beautiful than in the pictures Seth's sent me," Summer quietly said as she stroked the baby's cheek. Lifting her gaze from Sophie, Summer smiled up at Kirsten who smiled just as wide.

"Come on, let's go inside and I can show you some pictures we took yesterday." Both women made their way up the porch steps and into the house, Summer turning around by the door to see Seth carry her bags up the steps.

"What? I told you I know people can change," Seth smirked as he walked past her into the house.

Summer stuck her tongue out but smiled nonetheless as she closed the front door. It was good to be back.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

A few hours later Sophie had been awake and Summer had finally got to see her smile and make laugh-like sounds. She and Seth had offered to spend some time with Sophie, giving Kirsten a chance to rest. At first Kirsten had been hesitant, not wanting the couple to baby sit immediately since they had not seen each other for so long and probably wanted to have some alone time together. Summer had reassured her though that it was fine; she wanted to spend some quality time with her new favorite girl.

Seth had proudly showed Summer his sister's skills and showed her what she liked and what made her smile. And Summer had been happy to just see Seth be adorable with his baby sister, knowing that he had missed the little girl a lot even if he had flown home a few times over the past months.

"I think she'll sleep for a while now," Seth quietly said as he put Sophie down in her crib.

Summer smiled emotionally. "You're really good with her, Cohen." Seth's cheeks reddened and he scratched his chin. "That's a good thing, you know," Summer giggled and placed one hand on top of his knee.

Seth merely smiled and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. "You want to go upstairs?"

Summer stood up, bringing him with her. "Is your mom asleep?"

"I think so, yes. Just let me take the baby monitor to her and I'll meet you upstairs," Seth quickly said and placed a light kiss on Summer's temple before rushing towards his parents' bedroom, which still was on the first floor, with the baby monitor.

Summer smiled as she shook her head, placing one last kiss onto Sophie's face. "Your brother's weird," she whispered before she headed for the stairs, taking her suitcase with her. She had gotten used to taking care of her own luggage so bringing the heavy suitcase up the stairs was certainly not a problem.

Seth caught up with her in the stairway though, a little out of breath. "Hey, need any help?"

Summer laughed as she lifted the suitcase the last few steps and put it down on the floor. "Which room is yours?"

"This way, my lady," Seth said and carried the suitcase some meters down the hallway. Summer fallowed him into one of the guestrooms, closed the door and feel down on the bed with Seth.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Two days later Kirsten Cohen walked through the hallway upstairs in the Berkeley house, having put Sophie down for a nap in the nursery. As she neared one of the guestrooms, currently occupied by her son and his girlfriend, she heard soft sniffles. She carefully peeked inside as the door was ajar, seeing Summer sitting on the bed. Her back was turned to the door and Summer fumbled with a pillow in her lap.

"Summer, sweetie," Kirsten carefully walked into the room.

Summer quickly wiped her cheeks and turned to the blonde woman. "Oh, hi, Kirsten,"

"Are you alright?" Kirsten walked up to Summer, who was all dressed for dinner in a similar outfit like her own.

Summer shrugged, embarrassed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Kirsten sat down, placing a hand on Summer's knee.

"It's just the holidays, you know." Summer forced a smile and tucked some hair behind her ear. "It can be hard."

Kirsten nodded and gave the brunette a warm yet sympathetic smile. "I know what you mean."

"Yeah?" Summer uncertainly met Kirsten's eyes.

The blonde nodded yet again and spoke. "There are a lot of memories coming back. I always missed my mother the most during Christmas," she confessed.

Summer cleared her throat and bit her lip. She knew Kirsten always had missed her mother a lot, and tried to take over the role as the mother in the family. That was what had caused the somehow strange relationship between Kirsten and Caleb. She had barely heard Kirsten speak about her mother though, except a few short mentioning's of her name. "Yeah," Summer uttered just above a whisper, not really knowing what to say. "Me, too."

For a few moments neither said anything, Kirsten merely took Summer's hand in hers. They shared a special bond, both having lost their mothers. A girl never seemed to heal from losing their mother, even though they both had tried hard to get passed it and appear to look strong.

"It's not just my mom," Summer said after a while. "I mean, I always think about her a lot during the holidays because things never were the same after she…left." Summer paused, feeling slightly vulnerable but still safe to tell this woman about what was on her mind. "So much has changed, you know," she started and swallowed. "We don't live in Newport anymore; I don't even know where I live. My dad's in Seattle, Seth's in Providence, you guys are here and I'm all over the country. Today was the first time I spoke to Ryan in forever. And Marissa's gone." Summer paused and took a deep breath. "But I guess I've learned to accept change over the past year and a half."

Kirsten placed Summer's hand in her lap, bringing both of her hands around Summer's smaller one. "Summer, I know things have changed. They've changed a lot, for all of us."

Summer nodded and looked out of the window. "Sometimes I just miss having a house, a room. A family and a home I guess."

"Do you want to know what I think?" Kirsten gently spoke as the younger woman still held her gaze concentrated on something outside. Summer nodded though so Kirsten continued. "I think that through life, things will change. You never know what will happen, what to expect. But home is not so much a physical place, but people." Kirsten paused and gave Summer a smile as she turned her head back to look at the older woman. "I've moved through the years, and lost people I love, but Sandy and Seth were always home to me. No matter if we stayed in Newport or here, no matter how scary the world was or how awful it was to learn that the family I always had – my parents and Hailey – split, I had Sandy and we created a new home. And we had Seth, and Ryan came and now Sophie. And you. We're all a family. And home is being with the people you love."

"Yeah," Summer sighed and nodded.

"But it's okay to miss people. It's okay to be sad sometimes."

"Thanks." Summer smiled, her eyes a bit watery.

Squeezing the hand of her daughter-in-law Kirsten warmly returned the smile. "I love you, Summer. We all do."

Summer inhaled shakily but forced herself to answer in just above a whisper. "I love you, too."

"Will you be alright?"

"Yeah. Just…just give me a minute. You should go downstairs though. I'm sure everyone's going to be here soon," Summer said, referring to the Christmas dinner that was to be held this evening. The house would be filled with Sandy's family and the next day Summer's dad would be flying in with Gloria and Julie would also come with her family.

"Okay. Want me to get Seth?"

Summer nodded and smiled as she wiped a few tears that she had not been able to prevent from falling. Kirsten gently squeezed Summer's shoulder and then went out of the room.

Summer wasn't really sure of why she was crying. She didn't usually cry over nothing. And she wasn't seriously upset. Just emotional. And a little sad. And a little happy too. Because she had a place to go celebrate the holidays. She had people to love. She had a home.

"Summer?" Seth's voice was heard and Summer carefully turned her head to see him enter the room, closing the door behind him. "You alright?" He sat down next to her on the bed, placing a hand on her knee and rubbing it softly.

Summer nodded and inhaled shakily. A few more tears slipped down her cheeks and she didn't even bother to wipe them. "Hey," Seth whispered and brought his other hand up to her face which she had slightly bowed. He made her lift her head and softly brushed her cheek with his thumb. "What's wrong?"

And she wanted to tell him because he looked so concerned. But as she opened her mouth to speak she realized that she didn't know what to say. She didn't know what was wrong. So instead a muffled sob escaped from her mouth and she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. He immediately wrapped his arms around her small form and she scooted a little closer to him, kind of climbing into his lap.

Still, she was not sure of why she was crying. Or why she was clinging to Seth. She wasn't a clingy person and she did not like to make herself vulnerable too often. Now though, she just wanted him to be there and comfort her. From what she was not sure. The only thing she knew was that it felt good to be this close to him, and that the way he was kissing the side of her face and mumbling words of comfort into her ear was kind of nice. And his familiar scent seemed to make her relax and the way his hands rubbed circles on her back made her fall even more against him. It was just nice. To be comforted like this.

After a while her tears stopped, as suddenly as they had appeared in the first place. And Summer didn't feel sad anymore. But her eyes hurt a little and her breathing was shaky and she kept hiccupping against Seth's shirt. Seth hadn't made her talk and she was glad because she wasn't sure she would be able to form words. She was just glad that he was there and holding her.

As another hiccup escaped her throat she let her arms tighten around him and she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. Her lips brushed against his pulse point and she thought that she never had felt more safe.

"I love you," she whispered against his skin and she wondered if he could hear her because she spoke so quietly and had her face all buried in his neck. But he tightened his hold of her and repeated her words so she guessed that he had heard her after all. She carefully tilted her head to look up at him and found him staring back at her. His eyes were the same beautiful hazel eyes she loved to gaze into. And he gave her a smile so that the beginning of a dimple formed on his left cheek. She couldn't help herself but leaned up and kissed it, her lips lingering on his cheek. "I really, really love you."

"I really, really love you, too, Summer." Seth's smile became wider and his dimples more evident as he also brushed his lips against her cheek, wiping some remnants of tears from it as well.

The way Seth could look at her was like nothing else she could ever experience. He looked at her and she felt more loved than anyone else possible could. She couldn't even explain it, or understand it, but every time he looked at her with those beautiful and sincere eyes she fell more in love with him. And she didn't even think she could fall more in love with him. But somehow, she always seemed to do so.

"So," Seth started and brought her out of her daze. "Wanna tell me the reason of your tears?"

Summer pressed her lips together and sat up a little straighter, taking one of his hands into her lap and playing with his fingers. "I don't know. I just got a little emotional."

"Emotional?"

Summer kept fumbling with Seth's hand in her lap and made sure to have her eyes focused there as well. "Yeah. I-I was just thinking. About stuff."

She never seemed to be able to talk about her feelings and she knew that Seth knew that. It was just that every time she tried she didn't seem to be able to form words to describe what she was feeling. She didn't know why, or how other people did that.

Seth knew her better than anyone. Even her dad. And Seth never got frustrated with her, or at least he never showed it. He would be patient and let her take her time, and whenever she gave up and tried to show him what she felt with actions instead of words he would let her. He'd never force her or rush her.

But he always made an effort to make her talk, to help her talk. "What stuff," he gently asked and rubbed her knee again.

Summer tried to think. What stuff? "A lot of things. Things I miss. People I miss." She knew she didn't have to explain to him what things or what people she meant. He knew.

"Okay. I guess the holidays can be hard that way."

"Yeah," she softly said and again fumbled with her words. She wanted him to know that that wasn't all she had been thinking about. She wanted him to know that she was alright. She wanted him to know how much he meant to her. "I just…it got me upset. And then your mom made me talk about it and she made me see things in another perspective I guess." Summer focused her gaze to their hands because she was not sure if she would be able to get everything out if she met his gaze she could feel was searching for hers. "So much has changed. I don't have a room or a house anymore. My dad moved to another city. Your family moved here. And you're in Providence. I guess I just felt a little lost."

"Summer," Seth started and moved his hand up to touch her hair.

Summer continued since she finally had entered a flow with her words. She needed him to know. She wanted to tell him. "But then your mom told me that a home isn't just an actual place but the people that make you feel at home. And that just made me think differently. And I realized that I have a lot of people to love. I mean, my dad is still my dad even if he lives in Seattle. And I love your family and they've always made me feel at home even though your house never was my actual home. And I love you. And you're home to me, no matter where we are."

Seth smiled as she met his gaze, looking kind of embarrassed for saying so many words. He gently caressed her cheek and she leaned into his touch. As she again met his eyes, the sparkle was back and he couldn't help but kiss her. Maybe he was supposed to say something. But right now he didn't care, and he didn't know what to say either. For once, he chose to do what Summer usually did. He didn't say anything but acted instead, hoping that she would understand what he verbally couldn't express.

The kiss was soft at first, just Seth's lips gently touching hers. But as if that was the start of a natural reaction, the kiss deepened and Seth placed one hand on the back of Summer's head, pulling her closer to him. Both of Summer's hands touched Seth's chest and she climbed up on her knees, pushing Seth back onto the bed and climbing on top of him.

"_Seth!_"

Seth groaned as Summer pulled away, eying him suspiciously. "Was that your dad?"

"Yeah, he probably just wants me down there for when the Nana arrives," Seth sighed as he fumbled with the fabric of Summer's top, leaning up to kiss the side of her lips.

"You should go downstairs. The Nana's gonna be happy to see you," Summer said as she again pulled away and climbed off of him.

Seth sighed yet again and sat up. "This is gonna be a fun night." He smiled as Summer rolled her eyes and fixed his collar. "Hey," Seth softly said, his voice more serious. He searched her eyes and took her hands from his collar. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Summer sincerely smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks. I'll come down soon."

**I have a few pages more written on this one-shot so I might be posting a second part. :)**

**I could use some help/ideas with my other stories, especially A Thousand Snowflakes. My ideas and inspiration for that story is almost non-existent but I don't want to leave it unfinished. I am thinking of wrapping it up soon if I don't get any good ideas... So, please, people, review and give me some words of encouragment! **


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